In the Meantime
by Pen Liddin
Summary: Scrambling forward on all fours, Charlie heard the noises getting louder in every direction, and he started too really panic. There was nowhere he could run. Sneak peak! please read! What's going on at the camp? The chase is on once more for Charlie.
1. Where are you?

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with lost, blah blah blah, I think you get it**

**Notes: **Set after Exodus part two. While Jack and the motley crew are off exploring the hatch, and Jin, Sawyer and Mike are getting captured by the "others", what's going on in camp with Charlie, Claire, Hurley, Sayid, Shannon, Sun, and the other castaways? Charlie centric, but something from everyone above.

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Shannon sat away in a corner of the caves with Vincentand watched Jack leave, abandoning them all for what was sure to be death. And maybe its better that way, she thought. What do we have left to live for on this island besides the hope of getting rescued. 

Hurley gave up his attempt to stop Jack from leaving and trudged over to a fire pit, poking the dying embers with a stick he found lying near by. He glanced up as Sayid stirred from behind him and went to sit near Shannon , comforting her as best he could. 

Sayid forgot all his troubles for the moment when he glanced in the direction of Shannon . They hadn't talked since him and Charlie had come back from the black smoke, so he decided to go have a chat. Not sure if she wanted to be alone or not, Sayid made his way over to her slowly, and was thankful that she greeted him with a smile.

When Sun heard that Jack was leaving, she became more worried then ever. Now Jack, Kate _and_ Lock, the castaways' three leaders were all going down into a dangerous hatch, maybe never to come out again. Who would everybody look to if their task failed? Charlie? Definitely not... Sayid? Maybe…

Claire looked around at all of the others, noticing the look of worry and panic on everybody's face. She didn't know for sure if she believed Charlie that there were no others… If that were true, then why did the French lady take Aaron from her? When her eyes fell on Charlie, Claire saw something that usually wasn't written across his face, and began to worry even more for his health.

Charlie looked up from the fire to see Claire eyeing him suspiciously, and decided it would be a good idea to take a walk. He stood up and excused himself, glancing briefly at Claire before taking off.

Hours after Charlie had left, Claire started to become very nervous, and wandered out of the camp in search of him with Aaron in her arms, thinking he couldn't have possibly gone too far with everything that's happened on this Island . When she realized he wasn't around after calling his name a few times, Claire remembered that he didn't believe in the others, or all the bizarre things that had happened.

Sun, who had been keeping an eye out for everyone to make sure they were okay, noticed Charlie leave a concerned Claire to go for a "walk". Once Claire got up to follow him, Sun decided that she should go find her and bring her back. Quietly, Sun stole out of the camp, leaving a sleeping Hurley, a Shannon and Sayid, who were deep in conversation, and the rest of the castaways who were all either sleeping, pacing about, or staring gloomily into the flames.

Charlie was suddenly hit by a very strange feeling in midstep, and decided he should better start heading back. Now that he thought of it, it was pretty stupid of him to go tramping through the man eating jungle alone at night, just because Claire had looked at him funny. He supposed he was just worried she would find out the truth about the little porcelain statue he carried around in his pack. Sighing, Charlie stood up and began to head back to camp.

Claire whipped around, and almost dropped Aaron when she heard rustling in the darkness. A wave of relief washed over her when she saw an apologetic Sun scrambling out of the bushes.

"I am sorry!" She said, "I did not mean to scare you like that.. I was.. I saw you leave and I got worried.. You shouldn't be out here, especially with Aaron!" Claire took a deep breath and lifter her baby higher in her arms. "Yes, I know Sun… But I saw Charlie leave about 2 hours ago and he still hasn't come back!"

At that moment, a shadow emerged from the bushes and the two women screamed.

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K, well there was my first attempt at a fanfic, I know it was short but, meh...hope you all liked it! I'll probably be updating really soon, seeing as how I already have the next couple chapter written…. Well, I'd be really happy if I got some reviews, thanks,

Pen

p.s, Any suggestions?


	2. Broken

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with lost, blah blah blah, I think you get it**

**Notes: K, this ones a shorty, but don't worry, next ones really long. Please review! I wanna know what you guys think, or if anyone's even reading this! Oya and by the way, this is my first fanfic. Thanks **

"Well hello there ladies!" Charlie laughed. "Worried to death about me I see!" He said mockingly.

"Charlie! That's not funny! You scared of half to death!" Claire said, unable to hide the relief from her face. "Why would you go off like that in the middle of the night!" She cried.

"I fancied a walk is all." He replied with a surprising amount of guilt. It's not like he was lying to her…

Once they arrived at camp, Sun excused herself, and took up her position to watch the others until Jack returned. Charlie plunked himself down beside Aaron's crib and propped his head up on his arm to watch Claire put the baby to bed.

Claire lay down beside him and fell asleep almost immediately, but not Charlie. He turned over on his back and sighed, thinking about, once again, Mother Mary.

Sayid woke up next to Shannon and looked at his watch to see that it wasn't even five o'clock yet. Yawning, he gazed around at the sleeping castaways. At Sun, her delicate chin slumping onto her chest, at Hurley, who was curled up comically by the fire like a cat, (Sayid had to chuckle at this), at Claire, sleeping alone by her baby, and at Shannon, cuddled up next to Vincent. Sayid looked back at Claire, and it dawned on him that Charlie wasn't there! He always slept next to Claire and hardly ever left her or Aaron. Sayid looked around again and headed off in the direction he had seen the young man go last night.

Once again, Charlie found his feet taking him along the same path he'd gone last night. This time however, he was carrying his bloody pack with him. He knew it, he just wasn't strong enough. How could he resist so much temptation? Before, it had been easy enough with no temptation at all… but now, there was a whole bloody plane conveniently crashed in the jungle with a truckload of heroin stashed inside.

Sun started and lifted her chin, hearing Sayid take off. She cursed herself for drifting off and looked around to find Claire sleeping alone. Putting two and two together, she decided to try to keep the tired mother's eyes closed as long as she could.

Charlie plunked himself down on the ground and leaned up on what looked like a tree. He then lifted his bag up onto his lap and began to play slowly with the zipper. Pulling it open inch by inch, Charlie reached inside and took Mother Mary out, resting her in his arms, and gazing grudgingly at her.

At that moment, Charlie heard a banging coming from inside his head, which sounded like someone running up a flight of stairs. _What the… _he said to himself before beginning to stand up cautiously.

However before Charlie had the chance to fully straighten himself, he heard a squeaking sound, and something large and heavy swung and hit him from behind. Charlie lost his balance, and began to fall over. The last thing he heard before his head smashed against the rock was the ear splintering (At least for him) shatter of the porcelain statue that had slipped out of his grasp, and hit the jungle floor.

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All right, please review and tell me what you liked or didn't like about this, ill try to update soon, but review!

Pen Liddin


	3. What's gotten into him?

**Notes: Aww cumon guys, only 1 review! I curse everyone who reads this and is too lazy to review. I always review! Anyway, I wanna know what you think! Tell me what you think! lol. Continuing on…**

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**What Has Gotten Into Him?**

"Charlie!" Kate screamed when she saw the unconscious man lying beside the open door to the hatch. She bent down and tried shaking him, mumbling "Omigod omigod…" as she tried to wake him up.

Kate realized that he must have been leaning on the exit door to the hatch when she swung it open. "But what the hell is he doing all the way out here alone?" She said to herself.

Remembering the counter inside, Kate began to panic. She needed to get Sayid, but couldn't leave an unconscious Charlie out here alone.

Kate ripped a part of her sleeve off and pressed it against Charlie's wound.

xxxx

Sayid was going through the jungle, wondering where on earth Charlie had gone to, when he heard a muffled scream. As he moved towards where he guessed it was coming from, it became louder and clearer.

"Kate?" Sayid stopped abruptly when he stumbled into the clearing, taking in the whole scene.

Charlie lying on the ground, head bleeding…(although it didn't look to too bad), the big iron door left open, revealing a dark staircase, Kate looking up at him thankfully, and, his eyes scanned what was in front of him, a broken statue on a rock with…

xxxx

Kate couldn't believe her luck! It was almost uncanny how quickly it had come, but she had no time to worry about that.

"Sayid, listen to me." She said hurriedly.

"Jack is down there with Lock and another man. There's no time to explain, but you have to go down there and help them fix a computer before a timer runs out. This is very important!"

xxxx

Sayid looked once more, disbelievingly at the broken statue laying next to Charlie's feat, and nodded, disappearing behind the door.

xxxx

Sun rushed over to Aaron's crib when she heard him start to fuss. Not wanting Claire to wake up, she tried her best to calm the baby down, but only resulted in making him cry even harder.

Sun sighed when Claire woke up with a start. She thanked the Korean woman and took Aaron into her arms, slowly calming him down.

Claire looked at the empty space beside her and asked the inevitable question. "Where is Charlie?"

xxxx

Kate shut the door after Sayid, and bent down to gather Charlie's things up.

She collected the items that had spilled out of his pack and was about to zip it up again when she spotted something lying at his feet. She hadn't noticed this before so she leaned towards it to get a closer look, and gasped at what she saw.

Kate started to back away slowly, and looked at Charlie. Did anyone else know about this? Jack? Claire?

Deciding now was not the time to think about that, Kate hoisted Charlie up on her shoulders, glad he wasn't too heavy.

She settled him on her back like she was giving him a piggy back ride, grabbed his bag, and started off towards the camp, leaving the broken statue behind.

xxxx

Hurley slowly opened his eyes and groaned. He had been having the awsomest dream… Noticing he was the second last one awake (Beat only by Shannon), Hurley got to his feet and rubbed his eyes.

He walked over to Sun, who was talking to a distraught Claire.

"Hey," he said, waiting until she looked up. "D'you think we should uhh… go look for Jack, Lock and Kate…or something? He asked nervously.

xxxx

Charlie woke up with a scream, thrashing at Kate and making her drop him. He moaned as his hand shot up to his head.

Charlie swore, squinting up at the person standing above him.

"Sorry Charlie! I didn't mean to drop you, I was just bringing you back to camp, uhh there was sort of an accident." She said awkwardly.

Charlie merely rubbed his eye. "Kate?" He asked, confused.

xxxx

"No." Sun said firmly. "We don't want anyone else to disappear." Hurley raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

xxxx

"Are you okay to walk Charlie?" Kate asked, not meeting his eyes.

"Uhhh yeah no problem…" Charlie replied, standing up quickly to show that he was fine, and stumbling from the sudden head rush.

"Okay good." Kate said, quickly telling Charlie everything so he could inform the others of what happened.

Charlie just gaped at her. "Bloody hell…" Was all he could say.

xxxx

Claire looked from Sun to Hurley and closed her eyes, trying to be patient.

She was about to get up and do something, anything to find Charlie again, when he walked into the camp.

She gave a yell, accidentally drawing the attention of onlookers.

Claire rushed over to him and saw that he had yet another gash on his forehead, although not nearly as bad as the first.

xxxx

When Shannon heard Claire yell, she sat up groggily, and staggered over to the crowd.

Wondering what was going on, she pushed past a couple people to find everyone surrounding Charlie, who was speaking quickly.

"And the bloody thing swung open, hit me from behind andI smashed my head on a rock," He pointed to his cut, "WhenIwoke up,Kate explained that Sayid had been following me, and she had sent him down the stairs…"

_Sayid's where? _Shannon thought desperately, not listening to the rest of Charlie's explanation.

xxxx

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously after Charlie stopped talking.

Jack, Kate, and Lock were okay, and apparently Charlie was right, either there were no others, or they just weren't coming… yet…

xxxx

Once people began to get back to their duties, Charlie wandered away to go sit by himself and have some "alone" time.

Deciding not to go far, so as not to worry Claire, he sat himself down in the corner around the back of one of the caves. He leaned up against a tree, and ripped open his pack.

Charlie's eyes began to grow wide as he stared inside, realizing what was missing.

"Dude… you okay? Yah look a bit… peaky…" Hurley said, suddenly walking up around the side from behind a tree.

"Wha? Uh oh, yah I'm fine Hurl… I just need to… I'll be right back kay?" Charlie answered, surprisingly annoyed with his friend.

"Haha, no way man, you're not goin alone in there again!" Hurley replied, gesturing towards the jungle.

An unexpected anger began to boil up inside Charlie.

"I'll do whatever I bloody feel like Hurley!" He shouted, surprising himself and standing up, although still not quite comparing to the massiveness that was Hurley.

Hurley looked taken aback. "Dude…" He said, "It's just not safe okay!"

xxxx

Thankfully, he had managed to fix the computer, and they had pushed the button… for some reason. But the man Jack spoke of had run off, not leaving much more information than a dusty video, that didn't explain much.

Now that all the confusion and panic was over, Sayid glanced at Kate, wondering if she had seen the statue as well.

xxxx

Charlie stormed back to the camp, leaving a flabbergasted Hurley rooted to the spot.

Although he controlled himself and didn't run off into the jungle again, Charlie was on the verge of panic.

Not wanting to remain in the caves in the shameful presence of Claire, Charlie shuffled towards her.

Avoiding meeting her eyes, he told her that he was going to go check the beaches out.

xxxx

Claire didn't want Charlie to leave again, so she offered to accompany him, saying that someone else could keep a watch over Aaron.

Claire looked into Charlie's eyes, which were flickering around the caves, looking at anything other then her.

"Uhh… that's okay, I think I just wanna be alone for awhile…" He said, trying to sound cheerful.

Claire watched him as he walked off nervously, glancing back at her once, but quickly turning around and continuing on. _What has gotten into him?_ She thought.

xxxx

"Kate" Sayid said in his thick accent.

"You saw it too?" She asked, referring to the drugs that were still lying on the ground by the door.

"Yes" Sayid answered, "And I think we should go show Jack, and ask if he knows anything about this." Kate nodded and glanced at the doctor, who was arguing with Lock.

xxxx

Charlie left the caves in the direction of the beaches, waited until nothing could be seen or heard, and doubled back in the direction of the door.

He kept looking behind his shoulder, afraid he would be followed, but thankfully he didn't run into any problems.

Suddenly, Charlie stopped walking. He didn't remember this place at all! He wasn't even sure if this was the the right way!

"God dammit!" Charlie yelled, kicking a stump in front of him and stubbing his toe. Charlie threw himself down on the ground and put his head in his hands, frustration taking over his shaking body.

xxxx

Kate and Sayid lead a confused Jack up to the exit. Kate spun the large wheel on the door around and it swung open, allowing the soft morning light to pour in.

Jack looked at each of them suspiciously before stepping outside. He glanced around, than looked back at Kate, wondering what he was supposed to do with this.

Without saying a word, she pointed at the broken pieces of the statue lying on the ground, with the little baggies scattered around.

"It was in Charlie's pack." Sayid explained. "He must have taken it when we came across Boone's plane while searching for the baby…"

"Did you know anything about this?" Kate cut in. Jack was still staring at the ground.

"He kicked the drugs in our first week here… I guess I had just forgotten about it though…" Jack mumbled quietly.

"Listen, you can't tell anyone about this understand?" He asked.

Sayid and Kate nodded, although they were still quite shocked, they had been hoping there was another explanation.

xxxx

Hurley marched into the camp and up to Claire. "Dude…" He said, "Do you know what's up with Charlie? Cause he just kinda went crazy on me... cause I said he shouldn't go alone into the jungle."

Claire looked up at him briefly. She was trying to calm Aaron down and didn't need this right now.

"No, I don't know what's up with Charlie!" She said impatiently. "He left to go check out the beaches and he said he wanted to be left alone." Claire said, almost on the verge of tears.

_Aww crap… _Hurley thought. He Started towards the beach, but faltered. _Maybe it's best to stay here until Jack gets back… _

xxxx

Charlie crawled to his knees and looked around him. He had to go get his drugs before someone else found them.

He gulped, unable to swallow the lump in his throat. Kate or Sayid must have already seen them.

Massive trees surrounded him everywhere, making it look impossible to continue on. Charlie looked behind him, and stood up,turning around slowly. Where had he entered this grove?

There was a wall of thick trees and branches blocking the way in every direction!

"I think I'm lost…" Charlie muttered to himself before falling to his knees again.

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**Dun dun dun! lol, so... I hope you liked it, this one was a bit longer, and I have no idea when the next one will be posted... But w/e. Before I put it on, I'm gonna need some reviews! What's going on out there people! REVIEW! lol, well T'il next time!**

**Pen liddin**


	4. The Chase

**Disclaimer: Still don't own anything**

**Author's note: Right, ****I think this is my favourite chapter so far, so please please review! I'm going to start replying to everybody who does, cause I always love i when people do that :) Okay, this chapter's quite suspensful i think, so i dunno, the next one might have a bit of fluff, allthough i like writing action much more, ya gotta have some fluffinessdon't you lol. (Just a bit though, lol...or more..? i dunno, you tell me:)  
**

* * *

**AmazinglyMe**- Np, i love reviewing! (if any of you guys out there have charlie stories, just mention them and ill check them out)Yeah, you'll find out soon enough ;) And thanks for reviewing! 

**Vampyfreak- **thanks, i hope you like this chapter too

**SpikeandCharlie'sLostLuv- **There's your update! lol, yes i too love charlie fan fics. Thanks for the reviews!

**Sawyerslover-**I wrote this chapter before that last review, but i think you'll like it :) hope. It's all pretty ironic, anyway, thanks for the reviews, and enjoy :)

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**The Chase**

"Okay" said Jack, "Where did Charlie go?"

"I sent him back to camp to go tell the others about all this." Jack glanced up at Kate sharply. He hadn't wanted everybody to know about what was in the hatch, or get the wrong story. Sighing, he looked around.

"Which way is the camp?"

Sayid began to look this way and that too, coming to stare directly in front of them.

"I think it's that way." He said, pointing up ahead.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked nervously. "The last thing we need right now is to get lost in the jungle."

Sayid shifted his eyes over to rest on Jack and Kate. "No, I am not sure."

xxxx

"Shannon" Sun said, shaking her shoulder a bit. "Are you alright?" She had found Shannon lying on her back staring up at the canopy of leaves above. She blinked slowly and jerked her head, acting as if she had just been greatly disturbed.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said, "I was just thinking about something."

Sun nodded and walked away slowly, to go sit down and have a rest. She was exhausted, having got almost no sleep at all the previous night. She had been much to worried about everybody's safety, and about… the others.

xxxx

"Why is everything dark?" Charlie mumbled to himself.

Turning his head over, he realized his problem. He hadn't opened his eyes yet.

"Bloody hell…" He said softly, spitting out the dirt that he had most likely inhaled in his sleep. He couldn't remember exactly what his dream had been about, but he could sure as hell guess.

Charlie stood up, and shook his head, perhaps trying to clear it of all the uncomfortable thoughts that were creeping back into his mind. He spun around again, this time more aware of his surroundings.

He seemed to be inside a ring of trees, which towered over him, whispering softly.

Charlie shook his head again. Did he really hear whispers? He started whipping around frantically in every direction, whenever he thought he heard a distinct word among the raspy voices.

He began to back up slowly, until he felt a large tangled vine that hung off of an enormous tree behind him. Charlie screamed and jumped forward when he heard a particularly loud crashing noise coming from right behind where he stood.

Scrambling forward on all fours, Charlie heard the noises getting louder in every direction, and he started too really panic. There was nowhere he could run.

xxxx

"Okay, Kate can you go back to Locke? Tell him that Sayid and I are setting off to the caves. I think he's got the erm… situation under control now. We can send someone else back to help organize, and sort all of the equipment down there."

"And the food…" Kate said with a smile edging onto her lips.

"Jack" Said Sayid, "What about…" He gestured towards the drugs lying beneath his feet.

Jack didn't reply, but just stared where the broken statue lay for quite awhile. When he looked up again, he saw that Kate had already left back down the hatch, and Sayid seemed to be deep in thought as well.

"I think…" he said slowly, "We should throw it away."

"But he knows where the plane is!" Sayid replied, glancing up quickly. "He could go retrieve some more whenever he wants. It was foolish of me to mention the drugs at all… there was no reason for me to." Sayid said quietly.

"There was no way you could've known." Jack replied without hesitation. "When you saw him he was already unconscious correct?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. I know what you're thinking Jack, but I do not believe he has already taken some, and I doubt he would anytime soon."

"We'll see…"

xxxx

Hurley didn't like the fact that everyone was already starting to get ready to go back to the beach. He had a strange feeling it wasn't safe yet, and he still thought all the castaways should stay put for at least one more day.

Charlie still hadn't come back yet, so they didn't know if it was okay at the beaches. For all they knew, the others could all be waiting there withthe manalready held captive.

Hurley shivered at the thought of everybody walking out onto the beaches right into a trap.

"Everybody! Wait!" Hurley shouted, pointlessly, because nobody was listening. Hurley began to get frustrated; they were all being way too careless.

xxxx

When he started to see the branches in the trees sway in front of him, Charlie knew that he had to get out of that clearing, or die. He ran over to the opposite end, and began tearing away at the twisted branches, trees, and vines helplessly.

Charlie thrust himself amidst the thicket, ignoring the violent gashes and cuts created by the many thorns and branches he was trying to shove out of his way.

It seemed that he was only moving inch by inch, as the monster advanced on him, perhaps waiting until he tired himself out, then swooping in for the kill.

He knew that any second now, he would be wrenched away from his desperate struggle. Only once before, had Charlie experienced true terror. The kind that would make your heart freeze over, and paralyze your limbs almost entirely, only succeeding to terrify you even more. That had been the moment when realized Claire was gone.

Every sound become magnified one thousand times more in Charlie's ears. His harsh breathing, the beating of his heart, even the sound of the branches whipping across his face sounded like the crashing of lightning.

As Charlie tried to gain speed through the jungle, the vines and branches became increasingly difficult to avoid, and he ran head on into a low hanging branch, getting the wind knocked out of him.

Charlie tried to get to his feet again, but staggered, still gasping for breath that he feared he would never regain.

In a last, vain attempt to escape the hopeless reality that this thing would get him, Charlie began to crawl forward on his hands and knees. He felt the jungle monster breathing down his back and for one second, considered giving up and facing the reality he knew existed right there, less than a few feet behind him.

xxxx

Jack and Sayid had been trudging through the jungle for what seemed like hours, and they both doubted the accuracy of the route they had chosen to take.

"Alright Jack, what do you propose we do? We could turn around and make our way back to Kate and John, or we could continue on with the hopes of finding the caves."

Jack stopped walking and slung his bag off his shoulders. He didn't understand how sometimes it could be so incredibly easy to find something in this jungle at one point, and then not be able to find the exact same thing another time. How did Kate find the camp so easily when she came back?

Frustrated, Jack plunked himself down on the ground.

"Maybe we should just stop looking." He said, exasperated.

Sayid gave his companion a quizzical look, and sat down as well. "What do you mean?" He asked, taking a bottle of water out and tossing it to Jack.

"I don't know…" He said cautiously. "I just think we should stay here for awhile, maybe for the night…" Jack paused, what was he thinking? They needed to get back to camp! He sounded exactly like Locke. Jack shook his head and stood up.

"Then where are you going Jack?" Sayid asked.

"I changed my mind, I think we do need to continue, you were right." Jack answered. He began to walk away, so Sayid stood up off the bright, moss covered rock he had been sitting on, and followed.

They had to take quite a detour to avoid a fairly steep hill, covered with a thicket of many brambles and roots, which were easy to trip over.

Not being able to take the uneasy silence anymore, Sayid mentioned that they were now most likely heading north, therefore quite a way off the course they had began to take.

xxxx

Shannon was one of the first people to have packed up all of her things to head for the beach. She was more then willing to leave the caves she hated so, so much.

Ignoring Hurley, who was ranting away about god knows what, Shannon left everybody behind and started off on the path to the beach. She needed to be alone right now, and didn't feel like waiting around in the caves.

"Crap!" Shannon said to herself when one of her shoes fell off for the third time. Angry for having chosen to wear such inconvenient footwear, she sat down and pulled open her pack.

Fumbling around through all of her possessions, Shannon realized she didn't have one single freaking pair of proper shoes. What the hell was she thinking? Who cares what she looks like on this stupid frigging island.

Shannon stood up and threw her sandals into the jungle. She didn't care anymore; all she wanted was to get to the beach.

Frustrated, she trudged on in bare feet. Shannon began walking faster then ever, because she didn't want the others to catch up to her, and start trying to have a _conversation._

xxxx

Charlie could feel his whole body shaking like mad as he knelt, curled in a ball, directly in front of the mysterious menace. His breaths were coming out in gasps, and there was sweat dripping off his forehead, and running into his cuts and eyes, making them sting like crazy.

Gathering the rest of his strength, and courage, he began to get ready to make a break for it. He didn't know why this thing was waiting, but he decided not to question its intentions.

Charlie began to count down from ten. 10, 9, 8, There was nobody here to help him now, no one to bring him back to life and make everything okay again.7, 6, It was just him, 5, alone, 4, in the jungle with something that wanted to eat him.

3, 2, 1

xxxx

"Which way's west then?" Jack asked impatiently.

"We would have to start making our way down this slope diagonally, doubling back a bit the way we came." Sayid answered, point down the hill.

Jack sighed, all he wanted was to get back to the caves and it seemed that they had been walking the whole day. He hoisted his pack onto his shoulders and followed Sayid down the slanting terrain, praying to god that this was the right way.

xxxx

The screams of Aaron were echoing through the caves, driving the entire camp crazy. Claire stood amongst the crowd of people, trying desperately to calm her child, yet have no effect whatsoever.

Tears began to leak from her baggie eyes, and she started to push back toward the waterfall. She couldn't take it anymore! All she wanted to do was go to sleep. When she heard everyone was moving back to the beach, she was eager to go, still not knowing where the bloody hell Charlie was.

Then she started to get angry. She needed him now, and he had just gone traipsing off into the sodding jungle, leaving her alone to deal with everything by herself.

With Aaron still screaming in her arms, Claire collapsed onto a boulder, rocking her son back and forth madly. Sun, who had been helping people here and there, rushed over to the mother when she noticed she was about to pass out.

"Here, Claire, let me take him, I will carry him to the beach for you, you need some rest." Claire just looked at the Korean woman with grateful eyes and handed the baby over.

"Thank you." She said.

"If you don't want to come down to the beach, you don't have to Claire, I will stay with you, and there are many others who do not wish to go as well."

Claire shook her head, "No. I have to find Charlie." She said simply.

xxxx

Digging his fingers into the spongy ground, Charlie pushed off as hard as he could with his hands. He slid to his feet, and took off again through the jungle, completely aware the chase was on once more.

He felt lungs were definitely going to burst open any minute, as Charlie tore on ahead, feeling, and truly remembering fierce pain shoot through his body.

He had no idea where he was running, or how he was going to get there. All Charlie knew then was run.

Suddenly, he felt himself begin to stumble forward. As if everything had gone to slow motion, he looked down to find the cause of his fall had been a bright, moss covered rock.

xxxx

When the two men heard a scream in the distance, right in the direction they were headed, they faltered. They weren't sure if they should continue and see what's happening up there or not. It could be something at the camp, or maybe even somebody lost in the jungle.

But who's to say it wasn't someone like Ethan, baiting them in so he could kill them… or worse.

Silently deciding it was in their best interest to follow the source of the noise, Sayid and Jack continued on, this time hastening their pace some more.

xxxx

Charlie swore as he did somewhat of a flip and landed on his shoulder. However he never did stop falling. Picking up speed as he tumbled down the hill, Charlie somehow managed to right himself so his feet were facing ahead.

Using his momentum, he leaned over enough to put him on his feet, which was a big mistake, because now he was falling face forward, instead of feet forward.

Charlie began to crash through anything and everything in his way, including trees, branches and such.

Unfortunately, when the ground started to level out, and he broke through into a small clearing, he had not lost any of that speed. This made everything all the more painful when he ran straight into the little yellow plane.

xxxx

Hurley watched helplessly as the caves emptied out slowly, until there were only a few people left, including Claire and Sun. He rushed over to them, hoping they weren't planning on leaving as well.

"You two aren't going are you?" He asked, almost desperately.

Claire just glanced up briefly. She was packing some water bottles and supplies hurriedly into a pack.

"Yes Hurley, we're going. I don't know what's wrong with you, but didn't you hear Charlie? There is _nothing _out there."

Hurley didn't argue, but he knew she was wrong. How could she believe there was nothing out there when she had been…

"Fine, I'll accompany you too then. Can't let you go wandering through the jungle alone." He said, trying to be cheerful.

Sun stood up slowly. The baby had stopped wailing, and she didn't want it to start all over again. She turned around and got the attention of the rest of the people who were staying in the caves.

"If Jack, or anyone else comes back, just tell them that most of us have gone back to the beaches, to get away from here for awhile."

One of the men nodded, and the three companions turned and followed the last of the people out of the caves.

xxxx

Charlie stumbled backwards; he had been winded for the second time. This time however, when he hit the ground he could not get back up again.

Barely conscious anymore, he inched slowly towards the hatch on the side of the small plane. He knew there was no way he could possibly keep running anymore, and his best chance to survive was to hide inside.

Now on the right side of the plane, Charlie pulled himself inside, still not hearing a trace of the monster's pursuit.

Of course, Charlie wasn't thinking about this now, but if pain hadn't been searing through every inch of his body, he would gaping at the fact that he'd come across the plane at all.

Honestly, how is it that he could've possibly found the air plane in the middle of the jungle on this huge island. Then again, maybe the island wasn't that big after all…

Charlie then crawled in to the middle of the aircraft and collapsed among the scattered statues of Mother Mary.

He closed his eyes, waiting for it to find him.

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**Okay, well I hope you liked this chapter. I'm not sure if everything was as clear on the page as it was in my head, so I'd appreciate it if you reviewed and let me know what you thought. Ahem, did you get the part about the bright moss covered rock? lol...or is it really obvious...or not?**

**Yes, I've just decided that I'm not gonna continue with the story unless I have 5 suitable reviews, so if yah want to keep reading, you know what to do! (teehee)**

**BTW- Is it Locke, or Lock? I'm not sure which one i've been using... i apologize if i've been using both, or the wrong one, so let me know which one it is so i can fix the problem, lol, thanks.**

**Right, well… I know the button's right there… below this writing… so go ahead, Push it! It's not that hard! **

**Pen Liddin**


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